Online Travel Agents (OTA) - Who Are they?
We don't know of any complete list since many new OTA's launch every year: Some cease to operate either as failed businesses or being bought out by one of the major OTA's.
The online travel booking industry is a trillion-dollar industry that is evolving quickly, with new entrants and new technologies highlighted by the major impact AirBnB has had with online accommodation bookings Major consolidation has happened during the past decade and this will continue.
Globally the major OTAs to be aware of include:
Priceline (owns Agoda, Booking.com and many more OTAs )
Travelocity (bought by Expedia in 2015)
www.cheaptickets.com (Priceline announced they will buy in Feb 2017) www.priceline.com owns www.agoda.com & www.booking.com
Priceline is the leader in truly discounted travel rates with a Quantcast estimated 5.8 million visitors in January 2012. Priceline’s unique offering is their “Name Your Own Price” model, where you can place a bid for what you are willing to pay for airfare, hotels and car rentals. It takes a little practice to understand the nuances of travel price bidding, but the results can be dramatic.
www.hotels.com As their name might suggest, Hotels.com focuses on booking hotels. They offer very competitive rates and are a good option for booking hotel travel. Hotels.com will also allow you to book flights and vacation packages. Hotels.com is owned by the same company as Expedia, so expect the same rates on air travel as you would get with Expedia.
Another full service online travel agency that allows you to book air, hotel, and car rentals. CheapOair also has a price guarantee. CheapOAir has struggled in past years with customer support.
Yet another full service online travel agency that allows you to book air, hotel, and car rentals. OneTravel also has a price guarantee. There are no special features at OneTravel to distinguish them from the rest.
This site is focused hotel bookings. Booking.com is owned by Priceline. They offer a low-price guarantee and all their hotel bookings are free. They boast access to 57,000 hotels worldwide.
CheapAir.com is primarily focused on air travel. They attempt to distinguish their offering from others through their intuitive interface. Their air travel rates are competitive with the leaders in the industry.
Smartfares.com is a very vanilla looking online travel agency. There is really nothing about their site that distinguishes them from the competition. You can book air, hotels and cars on Smartfares.
A relatively new entrant in the online travel agency market, Bookit.com certainly has a website that looks distinctly different than many of the others. The one thing that distinguishes them from the rest is their aggressive use of their trademarked technology. Once you tell them where you are travelling from, they customize the site to show you deals and offers from that departure point.
Lastminute.com is number one for sites that focus the user experience and their offerings on last minute travel. You can book air, hotel, and cars through LastMinute.com. LastMinute.com is owned by Travelocity.com, so expect their pricing to be the same as Travelocity’s.
In Asia major OTA websites include www.ctrip.com , www.elong.com/ , https://www.traveloka.com/en-th/ , https://www.makemytrip.com/ and https://www.yatra.com/
Hoteliers should concentrate on the big producing OTAs.
Ongoing consolidation will see some OTA's disappear. New OTA's will launch! Don't waste time on many sites that deliver few bookings!